As Real Madrid sealed top spot in their Champions League group with a joyful 4-2 home win over Napoli, one big smile stood out above all the rest.
Nico Paz scored Madrid’s third goal on the night — a superb 84th-minute strike from outside the box that was crucial to breaking Napoli’s resistance, with Joselu finally adding a fourth in stoppage time.
Paz, who turned 19 in September, is already very well liked among fans, and Carlo Ancelotti had praised him in his press conference on Tuesday — as if through experience or genius he somehow knew what was to come.
“You talk a lot about the academy not playing, but now is the time to take advantage of them,” he said. “Nico Paz, Mario Martin, there may be Theo Zidane… Raul is doing a fantastic job (as manager of Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve side made of youth players).”
Despite his excellent relationship with Raul, the truth is that Ancelotti does not often tend to give many minutes to Castilla’s players. But his bet on Paz should not be understood as a gesture to the gallery.
After receiving assistant coach Davide Ancelotti’s directions, Paz came on in the 65th minute, replacing Brahim Diaz in attacking midfield. His team needed something extra and he had more than 25 minutes to show his football. He didn’t start especially well, playing a little too conservatively and also losing possession a few times.
Before Wednesday he had only played 22 minutes for Madrid’s first team across three late substitute appearances this month, twice in La Liga and once in the Champions League — he made his senior debut against Sporting Braga on November 8.
Paz made his senior debut for Madrid earlier this month (Oscar del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)
Everything changed in a flash. Paz received a pass from Antonio Rudiger about halfway between the Napoli box and the centre circle. In five touches he controlled the ball and turned sharply beyond his marker Jens Cajuste, a sixth touch saw him advance towards the edge of the box, and his seventh was a rasping left-footed drive that just had too much power for opposition goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Joselu would later add the gloss but this was the goal that decided the match. The Bernabeu exploded with happiness — not only because of the value or quality of Paz’s strike but the identity of its scorer. It is a stadium that always puts great hope in young players and, in this case, Paz is recognised as one of the jewels of the Real Madrid academy.
In celebration, Paz ran towards the left corner of the ground in ecstasy, as if out of himself. His team-mates mobbed him, Rudiger grabbing and pulling him around in special glee. The German defender accompanied him on the walk back to the restart, as Paz listened to his name chanted in the stands and called out by the stadium speaker, almost in disbelief. Rudiger encouraged him to look back to the fans one more time, to soak it all in.
Judging by his words on Spanish TV after the game, Paz might not quite have been fully aware of just what he had done.
“I dared, it was in automatic mode and I didn’t know what I was doing. I hit it… and freaked out, really,” he said very spontaneously on Movistar.
Paz has represented Argentina at youth level (Oscar del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)
Ancelotti embraced him warmly after full-time and again praised the young playmaker at his press conference. “Nico has brought in a moment of difficulty what everyone expected,” the Italian said. “For him it’s a special night. He is a player for the future of Real Madrid. He has all the qualities that a player of the Real Madrid squad must have.”
Paz was born in Spain, on Tenerife, but has been playing for Argentina’s Under-20s. He is the son of Pablo Paz, a defender who played for Argentina at the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1998 World Cup. In January, Paz represented Argentina at the South American Under-20 Championship. Senior national team coach Lionel Scaloni included him in a 44-strong provisional squad before the 2022 World Cup.
He arrived at Madrid’s youth academy in 2016. But his path to experience with the first team has not been as easy as you might expect — he has until recently been rather overlooked, with others promoted instead.
His talent has always been appreciated but excitement within the academy truly began to build during Paz’s 2021-22 season with the under-18 Juvenil B side, then managed by Fran Beltran.
“I remember an away game against Atletico Madrid, second against first,” Beltran told The Athletic. “Nico was coming from injury and we were fighting all week with the medical staff so he could play. He could only play 15 minutes. (In the end) he had a little more time and destroyed them. He had not played for a month.
“Nico is special. The son-in-law we all want, but competitive. Technical, but strong. With power, but with creativity and personality. His left foot is so strong and he finishes with his head like a perfect centre-forward.”
Real academy directors have also highlighted Paz’s mix of quality, strength and his ability to withstand harsh physical treatment from rivals. They admire his control in tight spaces, something considered essential when moving up to the first team.
Last season Paz stepped up to the under-19 Juvenil A team managed by Alvaro Arbeloa, and in the second half of the campaign he featured prominently for Castilla, who narrowly missed out on promotion from the the Spanish third tier.
💬🌟 We’re BUZZING too, @BellinghamJude!#UCL pic.twitter.com/KS036xNWUV
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 29, 2023
He also caught Ancelotti’s eye and was called up for several senior training sessions. The Italian included him in Madrid’s squad for their first Copa del Rey match of the season in January, and for the La Liga visit to Real Sociedad in May, but he had to wait until earlier this month for his senior bow. So far this campaign, Paz has also played 10 matches for Raul’s Castilla side, scoring six goals and providing one assist.
During this process, Argentina’s Football Association (AFA) has been ahead of Spain’s. At Real Madrid they still cannot understand why Spain’s youth sides have never called him up.
The AFA, meanwhile, acted quickly and successfully, informed by the scouting of Juan Martin Tassi, who is based in Madrid and tasked with keeping an eye on selectable youth players in Europe. After experiencing an Argentina camp, Paz feels convinced he will stay with them.
Also key has been the influence of Bernardo Romeo, coordinator of the AFA youth teams, Under-20 coach Javier Mascherano, who visited Valdebebas last season, and representative Juan Ignacio Gallego, who guided Paz when he was at the Best of You agency and is expected to do so when contracts permit at DC Global, the company he is now at.
Argentina have already been enjoying Nico Paz. Now his next chapter at Real Madrid is just beginning.